Focusing on 2.0 version for iOS and Android, with more platforms to come.
Mobile browser firm Skyfire has announced the 'retirement' of its v1.0 browser for Symbian and Windows Mobile.
After 31 December, it won't work any more for users in the US and Western Europe, having already been phased out elsewhere in the world in July this year.
Because the application uses a proxy browser approach, even people with it installed on their handsets will not be able to use it from 1 January onwards.
"It was a revolutionary product when introduced and offered for free, but the fast-moving mobile market has changed significantly since 2007, and as a small tech start-up, we need to keep innovating forward," blogs CEO Jeff Glueck.
"Our new 2.0 product is built for the next generation of smartphones and tablets with full support for html5, offline browsing, javascript, WebKit, and full-screen video. The 2.0 architecture is exponentially more data efficient as well."
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Glueck says that supporting the data-hungry (and free) 1.0 browser proved impossible, and while Skyfire investigated ways to charge to keep users supported, "the payment mechanisms were very cumbersome and the piracy rates were so high on those OS platforms that we could not make it work."
Skyfire is in talks with carriers and OEMs about which platforms to support next with the 2.0 version of its browser - Glueck mentions Windows Phone 7, MeeGo and BlackBerry OS 6 as having potential.
Meanwhile, the company is getting up to speed with iOS demand for its browser, and has confirmed that "We now expect to keep the App up in the App Store in the US without pause".
Canada is also supported now, with the UK and Irish App Stores due to get the browser "soon". Skyfire is also working on an iPad version of the browser, whose key selling point is its ability to play Flash videos.
In this second blog post, Glueck also hints at new features for the Android version of Skyfire, to be announced later this week.
"Those of you who love social networking and browsing both can expect to like this," he writes.
